Playing Dice
by EldritchSandwich
Summary: Change of Heart Series 7. Jeremie prepares to go to Lyoko, and Yumi's father starts to question her relationship with Ulrich…


Yumi's fist slammed down on the table, plastic cups leaping up as if to flee. "Absolutely not! Ulrich, you really let him talk you into this?"

Ulrich threw his hands up in resignation as Sissi stifled a laugh.

Jeremie put down his fork, eggs returning to their orderly pile on the middle of his tray. "Yumi, there's nothing to worry about. You've gotten better at using the supercalculator, and this time Aelita can help you."

Sissi swallowed a mouthful of toast. "Besides, what better birthday present for Aelita than to have her _boyfriend_ come and visit?"

Jeremie blushed. "Where's Odd today, anyway?"

Laughter wafted to the table from across the cafeteria. Sissi's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Guess."

Ulrich sighed—Odd could be so clueless sometimes. He knew how Sissi felt about him—both Ulrich and Jeremie had all but spelled it out for him. Still he found himself, every morning for the past week, eating breakfast with Ana, away from the people who could actually understand what he was going through.

Sissi looked at her watch. "Hey, Jeremie, I'm going back to the room. I want to talk a little with Aelita before class."

Jeremie nodded. As Sissi lifted herself from the table and returned to the dorms, he returned his focus to Yumi. "Come on, Yumi, what do you say?"

Sighing, Yumi's head rolled back. "all right. Fine."

"I'm sure he's just afraid to tell you—he doesn't want to spoil your friendship." Aelita cooed, her face washed out on the aging computer screen. Sissi smiled.

"The only thing he's concerned about spoiling right now are his chances with Ana. She seems so fascinated with him, Aelita, and I...I still don't even know how I really feel about him—or how he feels about me."

Aelita chuckled, a rhythmic humming sound as it came through the speakers. "I watched this same thing happen between Yumi and Ulrich, you know. Neither one of them was quite sure how the other really felt until they were put in a position like this."

Sissi started. "You mean Emily?"

Aelita nodded. "Yumi got jealous, Ulrich got angry, and when they finally got stuck in a life or death situtaion, none of that mattered."

Sissi shook her head in disbelief. "You know, they never actually told me what happened on that trip to Lyoko."

Aelita smiled, looking back on the dim peripheral awareness she'd had after she'd gone into the Tower. "Let's just say they were put in a situation in which they could no longer deny their feelings for one another."

Sissi hung her head. "But I don't even know if Odd and I _have_ those feelings for each other..."

Aelita's smile widened. "From what I understand of your culture, the people involved are usually the last to know."

Odd was in a good mood. He had just passed his English test, and he and Ana were going to the park to celebrate.

Ulrich was not in a good mood. He had just failed his English test, and Odd wasn't helping. "Oh, come on Ulrich, don't dwell on it," Odd beamed, "I guess you just can't help it if you're not as smart as me!"

Jeremie smiled. "As smart as _I_."

Odd cocked his head. "You know you're really messing up this whole intellectual superiority thing I'm working on."

Ulrich bristled. Since Odd had met Ana, he had become even more irrepresible. Meanwhile, the others had watched Sissi slip farther and farther into a bitter disinterest that Ulrich recognized all too well. "So Odd," Ulrich broke, his tone stopping Odd's inane chattering in Jeremie's general direction, "have you talked to Sissi lately?"

Odd stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Well, not late...no. I guess she must be mad at me or something."

Jeremie smirked. "And you don't have the slightest idea why." Jeremie's tone did not imply a question so much as an accusation.

"I dont know, it's Sissi. I'm sure she'll get over it. Hey, I have to go, guys."

As Odd walked off toward his date, Ulrich shook his head sadly. he turned to Jeremie. "This is all seeming just a little too familiar."

Jeremie chuckled, then sighed. "Yeah, but you and Yumi came out all right." Ulrich shook his head, following Jeremie off toward the cafeteria for supper.

Yumi's father put down his fork. "I don't want you seeing him anymore."

Yumi looked up from her plate, into the harsh glow the kitchen light threw on her father's face. "What?"

"Dear," Yumi's mother broke in, "perhaps now is not the best time..."

"I don't care if it's a good time. Yumi, I don't want you to date that Ulrich anymore."

Yumi stood up, her chair buckling as the force of her ascension sent it scurrying backward along the floor. "What? What are you talking about?"

Her mother placed a hand on her shoulder, either to comfort her or to urge her to sit. "Yumi, it's not that we don't trust you..."

"Then why can't I do what I want?"

Her father slammed down his glass, "Because we don't trust _him_."

Yumi's mother sighed. "It's not that. Your father is just saying that maybe you should give yourself a little more time."

Yumi scoffed, turning away from the table. "How long? Should I wait until I'm retired?"

"Honey, don't be like that..."

"I'm going to my room." As she retreated, Yumi heard her parents' voices fade like a bad dream.

"Get back here, young lady..."

"...don't. She has a right to make her own decisions. I told you she wouldn't listen..."

"...that boy's not good enough for her. And those friends she hangs around with..."

Yumi slammed her door. Sitting on her sleeping platform, she thought of Ulrich. Gradually her thoughts turned to Odd, Jeremie, and even Sissi. She began to cry.

Odd had never really appreciated the beauty of the park before. He'd been there, time and again, but it had never looked so incredible as it did in the moonlight on that evening. Perhaps, he thought, it was merely magnified by Ana's radiance. He told her as much. She giggled.

"Thanks for bringing me out here. It really is beautiful."

Odd hugged the frail blonde closer, under the pretense of guarding her against the growing evening chill. "It's learning from an expert."

Ana smiled. "It's strange—the forest looks so different in the moonlight. You see it every day, but you never really appreciate it, you know?"

Odd nodded, eyes darting back toward the building. "I was just thinking that."

Ulrich popped a portion of roast beef into his mouth, chewing methodically as Jeremie laid out his plans for his sojourn to Lyoko.

"...I've also boosted the power to the scanners by twenty percent—it should help prevent a short like the one that got me stuck the first time. It's all going to be fine; I don't see what Yumi's so worried about."

Ulrich smiled softly. "She just looks out for everyone. It's her way. It's kind of cute whenever it's not annoying..."

Jeremie pushed aside the notes he had scribbled down on the transfer process to aid Yumi and looked at Ulrich, draining the wistful mirth from his eyes. "Speaking of looking out for people and...annoyances...we need to talk about Sissi."

Ulrich grunted. "Correction—we need to talk to Odd about Sissi."

Jeremie sighed, picking at his plate. "He's not listening."

"He'd better start. I know from personal experience what love triangles will do to people."

Jeremie slammed down his fork. "Except in this case it's worse. Sissi's affection for you was always one-sided. She never had a chance. But Odd...he has to make up his mind."

"I know the choice I'd make."

"You're not Odd. He has to get through this himself. Until he does, we can only help Sissi through it."

The soft beeping of Ulrich's cell phone interrupted his musings. "Hello? Yumi, what's wrong? Hey, just calm down, all right? I'll be right there." Jeremie looked up. Ulrich shook his head, pushing away from the table almost violently. "It's Yumi. She didn't say why she called—just that she needed to see me."

"Xana?"

"I don't think so...I have to go."

Jeremie nodded. Setting his tray on the discard pile, he meandered back in the general direction of his room. If he was lucky, Sissi would still be awake.

"I just love to look at the stars. They just make you feel so...insignificant. Like there's a purpose to the world, you know?"

Odd nodded, his arm hanging around Ana's waist. As hard as he might try, his thoughts inevitably focused on earlier that evening. What had Jeremie meant about Sissi being upset?

"Odd? Are you okay?"

Odd shook. "Yeah, I'm fine." As the two neared the dorms, Odd swung open the door. "Your castle awaits, princess."

Ana smiled, sliding through the gap. Pausing, she turned, quickly brushing her lips against Odd's. As she hurried off to her room, the look on Odd's face would be described by most as pleasant surprise. In truth, Odd was very, very confused.

As hard as he tried to see Ana waving back at him as she darted down the hall, all he saw was Sissi.

Her sobs finally receeding, Yumi finally lifted her head from Ulrich's chest, the night air chilling the tear stains on his shirt. Since she had met him in the secluded parking lot ten minutes ago, she had only been able to cry fitfully, Ulrich cradling her in his arms. Finally, it seemed she was ready to speak.

Sliding her body down the chain link fence nearest the street, Yumi let her head push back into the thick wire as she sat down. Ulrich followed her down, wrapping his arm around her quivering shoulder. He smiled sadly, silently. Yumi shuddered, and her sobbing stopped. She looked up, her eyes red to her cheeks. She took a deep breath. "My parents don't want me to see you anymore." A single chuckle escaped her throat. "Any of you."

Sighing, Ulrich slowly pulled Yumi away from the fence, her shoulder coming to rest in his lap. "Whatever they might think, that's not their decision."

"I just can't put up with this anymore, Ulrich. They _think_ they can run my life, I mean...what if..what if..."

"'What if' what?"

Yumi turned her head, staring into the steely eyes that seemed so helpless and tender in the waning moonlight. "What if they're right?"

"No, they can't be right," Jeremie whispered, "Run the detection software again."

Aelita shook her head. "We've run it three times already, Jeremie. There's no getting around it—you have to create a transfer protocol if you want to reach Lyoko. You'll have to design a combat avatar for yourself."

Jeremie exhaled sharply, craning his neck over the computer chair's shoulder support. "There has to be some way around it. If I create a transfer protocol I'll only be able to exit Lyoko when I'm devirtualized by a monster. That's not exactly an experience I'm looking forward to."

Aelita chuckled. "Oh, come on, it can't be that bad. The others do it all the time, and it doesn't result in any permanent damage."

Jeremie snorted. "Yeah. Yet."

"Speaking of permanent damage...where's Sissi?"

Jeremie shook his head. "I was hoping you could tell me. She's usually in bed by now."

"She has a lot to work through right now."

She did. Sissi was in the library again, immersed in psychology, Greek myth, Celtic history, and more—every moment something new held her attention was a moment in which she couldn't think about Odd. As she heard the even press of footsteps toward her, Sissi sighed. It was probably Jim telling her to go back to her room. The shrill, singsong voice caught her off guard.

"Working late?" Sissi stared up into Brandy's round face as the blonde slid herself into the chair across the table.

"Not now, Brandy."

"Oh, but I heard you were having some troubles with your new boyfriend and I thought you might need someone to talk to."

Sissi ignored the girl's baiting.

"I guess Odd just finally figured out what a better catch that Ana is. Guess it's about time for you to throw in the towel, wouldn't you say?"

The spark that lit Sissi's eyes at that moment spilled over into a cascade of laughter. Sissi looked up at her bewildered nemesis, finally understanding. "You're me."

Brandy's eyebrows arched. "Yeah, in what pathetic alternate universe?"

Sissi stood, pressing a hand to Brandy's shoulder as she walked out toward the dorms. "Thank you."

Brandy blinked, seemingly stunned by the weight of the words. "For what?"

Sissi spun around as she yelled out her response. "For helping me see the pattern."

"Are you all right, Sissi?" Ulrich prodded, taking a sip of orange juice, "You look a little distracted."

Sissi's smile—the one she had been wearing for the better part of the morning—widened. "I'm fine."

Jeremie looked up from his oatmeal. "Are you sure? I haven't heard one Odd joke all morning."

"I'm okay, really. I'm just...thinking about something I heard last night."

Jeremie's eyebrows creased, but he slowly drew his attention away from Sissi. "So, Ulrich, what did Yumi want last night?"

"Hm? Oh...nothing. She had a problem, but I helped her with it."

Sissi smiled. "Yeah, lip wrestling can solve any problem."

Ulrich winced. Jeremie took off his glasses, polishing them on his turtleneck. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"It's nothing. I'm going out to the courtyard. She's going to meet me."

Sissi scooted her tray closer to Jeremie. "What happened there?"

Jeremie shook his head. "He'll tell us when he's ready. Besides, I'd rather know where you were last night."

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just in the library. Something that Aelita told me came back to me. I think I've figured out something important."

"About you and Odd?"

Sissi smiled, discarding her tray as she walked off toward the dorms.

Ulrich sat, crosslegged, on one of the wooden benches scattered throughout Kadic's grounds. A rustling in the bushes stole his attention from the gathering Saturday sunlight, and he turned to find Yumi emerging from the sparse woods. They shared a greeting kiss as Yumi took her seat next to Ulrich's. He stroked her hair. "Do you want to talk?"

Yumi hugged closer to Ulrich. "No. I just feel like sitting. I told my parents I was going to the library to get some studying done."

"I'm really sorry, Yumi. Maybe if I'd tried harder with your dad..."

Yumi shook her head. "It doesn't matter. They can't see you the way I do. If they don't know about Lyoko, it doesn't really make sense. I'm the one who's sorry...I wish they'd give you a fair chance."

Ulrich chuckled. "What did they say about me?"

Yumi smiled. "Your not good enough for me. That, and my father doesn't trust you."

"No reason he should—I'm dating his daughter. If he trusted me, we'd be getting married by now."

Yumi laughed, letting the sunlight wash over her. "Thanks, Ulrich."

"No problem." Ulrich lifted Yumi's head from his lap. "Come on, we have to go. Jeremie's trip is in an hour. We have to make sure the lab is ready."

Yumi took Ulrich's hand, the sun beading on her back. She glanced over at Ulrich, at her rebellion. She smiled. "You're not good enough for me you know."

Ulrich took her shoulder as they walked. "Yeah, so they keep telling me..."

"I knew you'd figure it out sooner or later," Aelita hummed, Sissi leaning toward the monitor, "You two always fought too much not to be meant for each other."

Sissi leaned back, the lab's huge chair uncomfortably pliant beneath her back. "Now Odd just has to figure it out, and that could take until we've all gone off to university." Sissi shook her head clear of the nagging questions that Odd had yet to answer. "Are you ready for your birthday present?"

"Oh, I can't wait. This is going to be wonderful."

"Everyone else should be here in a few minutes—I just wanted to come early to...to thank you."

Before Aelita could respond, the lift doors parted. Yumi and Ulrich entered, while Odd and Jeremie remained inside, continuing their trip to the scanners. Yumi took Sissi's place in the control chair. "Hey, Aelita. Is everything ready?"

Aelita nodded. "I've made all the software changes Jeremie specified. We should be ready whenever Odd gives the signal."

Sissi turned away from the holoscreen, heading toward the lift. "I'll go on down and make sure Odd doesn't get Jeremie into any trouble."

As Sissi punched in the code to descend, Aelita smiled. Stepping through the opening doors, Sissi heard Yumi's voice through the overhead speakers. "We're starting, Jeremie. Whenever you're ready."

Odd squinted against the narrowing light as the scanner closed. "This is Odd. Jeremie's inside, we're good to go."

"Good. Get back up here. I want everyone here when I flip the switch."

As Odd headed toward the lift doors, Sissi's hand on his arm spun him around to face her. "Odd, I have to tell you something. It can't wait."

"Yeah, I know what you're going to say."

Sissi paused. "You do?"

Odd shrugged. "Yeah. I'm sorry I've been ignoring you guys lately. It's just...you know...it's been so long since I've had a girlfriend, I'm kind of letting her monopolize my time."

Sissi's lips tightened. "Oh."

"I never meant for any of you to feel like I abandoned you." Sissi nodded. "Besides, I'm sure you'll find someone soon, too."

As they headed back to the lift, Sissi let herself fall several paces behind Odd. As they entered the lift, Sissi closed her eyes and let out a breath. "I'm sure I will."

With Sissi and Odd taking their places in the small crowd in front of the monitor, Yumi began the transfer process from Jeremie's notes. She gulped visibly—Ulrich's hand came to rest on her shoulder. "It's all right. I know you can do it."

Yumi smiled. No matter what anyone said, he was too good for her. "I'm starting the program—is everything ready, Aelita?"

"All the readings look fine from here. We're ready."

Yumi took a deep breath. "Here we go-

"Transfer—Jeremie."

Sissi looked toward Odd. Odd smiled.

"Scanner—Jeremie."

Ulrich gave Yumi's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Virtualization."


End file.
